Kaylee Drake and The Wrong House
by Robinwinghood
Summary: This is a simpler story. There is no world-encompassing danger. There are no dark lords out for blood. There's just one young girl. True, her life has it's moments of fear, but they are only moments of her own fear, and the fear of those around her. It all starts on her first year, when her house isn't what she expects...


Kaylee and her sisters, Isla and Marian, left the house early in the morning, all of their robes packed up ready to go, everyone holding hands, as Isla took the hand of her father, long holder of an apparition licence. They were dressed in muggle clothes, and the elder girls looked slightly uncomfortable. Kaylee was too young to really take any notice, having only turned eleven in August. Now, the first of September was dawning, and the Drake siblings were going back to Hogwarts, a smaller addition in tow. Isla and Marian shared a look over the red curls walking between them, and smirked. The third year twins had been a pair since they'd stepped into Gryffindor, as their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and any number of ancestors had. They knew she hadn't displayed the brash kind of courage usually associated with Gryffindors, often she tried to act as some kind of voice of reason to the rest of the family, but surely, the hat would be able to know that Kaylee was Gryffindor. The whole family was Gryffindors, the sorting was really just a technicality at this point. The family was a courageous one, and proud of it. Damn proud.

Hugs passed from their father to the three Gryffindors, the twins happily set about making sure that everyone who needed to met little Kaylee. Kaylee followed along shyly, dutifully shaking hands with the other Gryffindors, before letting them talk over her head. The twins pretty much completely forgot about her, chatting to the Gryffindors in her place. They decided she was just nervous, as first years always were. She sat next to the window quiet, watching the hills go by on the way to Hogwarts.

Kaylee was shaking like a leaf as she separated from her sisters, who were nodding and smiling at her reassuringly. She followed the famous Hagrid toward the lake, and all the small boats. Her group was three boys, one of which leapt onto the boat excitedly, laughing. The second got on without a fuss, sitting as far away from the first boy as he could, grimacing. The final boy looked at Kaylee briefly, before getting in ahead of her and reaching up to help her in, flashing a smile.

"Hello. I'm Ben Handle." He introduced, as Kaylee sat down beside him. Kaylee smiled back, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Kaylee Drake. Thanks for helping me down." Kaylee replied, but Ben waved it off. They chatted between themselves politely, during which she learned Ben was also a pureblood, and that his family were a series of Slytherins.

"But not bad Slytherins! Hasn't been a deatheater among ours ever!" He quickly added on. The quiet boy at the back of the boat gave Ben a hard, calculating look that Kaylee didn't see.

Standing in line to be sorted, Kaylee fidgeted nervously. Her surname began with a D, so she was going to be sorted before Ben. She wasn't sure where he wanted to be placed, so she didn't say anything, but she silently hoped he'd break his family's ties to Slytherin and be put in Gryffindor with her. Though, if he wanted to keep in with his family, she felt she'd be okay with that. She may have been a bit leery of his housemates, but he'd turned out to be alright for a boy. Kaylee looked up, as D names started drawing closer to her own, so that she would be ready to walk up. She knew exactly where she had to go, a quick glance confirming the empty seat between Isla and one of the older boys she'd met on the train with her sisters.

"Dinkley, Hadley." Resonated Professor McGonagall, the headmistress', voice. This girl sat under the hat for a total of fifteen seconds, before joining Ravenclaw table.

"Drake, Kaylee."

Kaylee almost tripped on the stairs, prompting quiet sniggers from Gryffindor and Slytherin tables.

She sat on the stool. The hat only stayed above her eyes, just about, because of her ears.

Kaylee didn't hear much from the hat, beyond quiet comments like "loyal" "hard to anger" "determined".

After about three quarters of a minute, the hat's shout came.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

With a nudge from Professor McGonagall, Kaylee got up to walk towards the raucous cheers from the table covered in yellow and black. She actually did trip down the stairs this time. She felt her knees hit the solid stone, but her upper half never got that far, with a couple of Hufflepuffs diving forth to catch her. She blinked wide eyes up at these people… Her housemates. A girl held one of her shoulders, and a boy the other. They looked like third years.

"No worries, luv." Grinned the girl, who had twin blonde plaits. "Nobody thinks they'll be wearing yellow when they come to Hogwarts."

"I did." Another girl, this one with long, dark brown hair and tanned skin, tossed in, leaning back on the bench to look past other people. The girl with the plaits grinned over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but you'd already tamed the squid by the time the boats docked." The boy, whose hair was a much darker brown-black, and had very pale skin, stated matter-of-factly. The second girl shrugged nonchalantly.

The hat had put Kaylee in the wrong house. How did that even happen? Kaylee looked back over at her seat next to Isla, wondering if her sisters knew this could happen. She couldn't find Isla for a minute, because the seat next to her had been filled by the boy who came after Kaylee, who'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Marian, opposite Isla, was laughing amongst her friends, chatting about this and that, and Isla was talking to the newest Gryffindor, probably explaining something to him. Neither of them spared Kaylee a glance.

The two Hufflepuffs lifted Kaylee onto her feet, giving her knees room to properly tremble. They drew her over to where they'd been sitting, almost on the end of the table. The girl with plaits turned towards the occupants of the table with a small grin.

"Budge up, people!" She ordered. There was much shuffling, as Hufflepuffs made room for Kaylee and the two who had caught her. They sat on either side of her.

"I'm Anna Forbes, he's Daniel Adams." The girl with plaits introduced, indicating herself and the boy with her hands. The boy nodded briefly. Kaylee waited for them to turn to the other people in Hufflepuff, but they just kept looking at her.

"K-Kaylee Drake." She replied, shakily proffering her hand. Daniel took it and gave it one firm shake, while Anna reached across and grabbed Kaylee's other hand, shaking that one, and causing Kaylee's arms to cross over her torso.

"So, pet, how was the lake? Anybody fall in?" Anna asked.

Kaylee watched as Ben Handle was sorted into Ravenclaw, the loud boy, Arthur Cross, into Gryffindor, and the quiet boy, Cuthbert Mills, into Slytherin. She only tuned into the sorting when she spotted the people from her boat at the front, still trying to make sense of her misplacement. Her sisters hadn't said anything, or came over to help her. Her thoughts kept being derailed before she could think to get up and go to them, with Anna and various other Hufflepuffs asking her things, Daniel tapping her shoulder to ask her things, and yellow clad arms reaching to shake hands, and on two memorable occasions hug her.

Before she really knew it, she was being helped onto her feet and led through the halls. The prefects, Mallory Hart and Jason Potts, headed the crowd, the rest of the older Hufflepuffs assembled behind the first years. They were led through the hallways for a surprisingly short way, before descending some merrily lit stairs into a back hallway, lined with paintings of landscapes. It smelled faintly of cooking, and vinegar.

"Our common room is right next to the kitchens, so we're generally given free reign to go in when we want to, once we figure out how to get in." Explained Mallory Hart, indicating a very large painting of a bowl of fruit, that almost reached the floor.

"I think Hufflepuffs are generally given a lot more leeway than your average student. Trustworthy is one of our traits, after all, so people know that we don't do things for no reason." Jason Potts added.

Right next to the still life was a pile of wooden barrels, stacked into a triangle on a rack to make sure they didn't fall down. Jason Potts moved to lean on it.

"Doesn't look like much, does it?" He stated, indicating the pile with his head. He stood up straight.

"Same could be said for Hufflepuff House. We are modest, humble. Many of you will have heard tales of Hufflepuff House's weakness but you'll learn over time. You weren't put here because you're weak, or stupid, or slow, or boring. You were put here because you're loyal. You were put here because you can be trusted. You were put here because you will never go bad. You were put here because the teachers don't have to watch you so closely. Not a word, Forbes." Jason Potts gave Anna a pointed glare, and she took a bow. Mallory Hart stepped up next to Jason Potts.

"It always makes me sad that we have to tell our first years that they're not wrong to be here. The other prefects never have to reassure first years that they're worth something, no matter what they've heard about their house." She stated, sighing heavily.

The atmosphere hung still for a moment, before Jason Potts cleared his throat. He raised his hands until they were in a position ready to clap.

"So, can everyone clap out the syllables for 'Helga Hufflepuff'?" He asked. The first years obediently complied, clapping along with him, and Kaylee found herself doing so as well. Jason Potts nodded once.

"Remember that, you have to knock it on this barrel to get in." He explained, pointing at the second to the left barrel on the second row. He looked back up at the older Hufflepuffs.

"Any volunteers to show them why they should remember this _very_ well?" He asked. Anna's hand shot into the air, Kaylee could even feel a breeze from it, and Daniel chuckled quietly next to her. Jason Potts nodded briefly at Anna, before signalling everyone to clear a space. Anna took a position in front of the barrels, knocked on the top one twice… And dove to the side to avoid the barrel opening and spewing about a bucket's worth of vinegar at where she'd been. She rolled back to her feet, dusted off to the applause of amazed first years and amused older students.

"The harder you hit it, the harder it hits you." Jason Potts added, leaning over to knock the proper combination into the barrels. They gave a brief shudder, then they seemed to melt downwards, until they formed a bright, warm wooden stairway to a circular hole. Dim but welcoming light came through that hole, showing a yellow carpet. Kaylee swallowed audibly.

The Hufflepuff common room was a large circle, full of comfortable, slightly beaten in chairs and settees. It's wallpaper was as yellow as it's floor, with black patterns going up it. The ceiling is low, and somewhat rounds up from the walls where there isn't a thin window outside, showing grass before the night's darkness hid things. There were two doors, rounded like the tops of barrels, on either side of a large fireplace, lit to aid the candles hanging from the ceiling. Jason stood in front of the fireplace, and told them which door belonged to which gender. Mallory led the yawning first year girls down the right hand tunnel, Jason led the boys down the left. Mallory opened the door to the first year girl's dormitory. The dormitory was as low ceilinged as the common room, though the yellow was a good deal more muted. Kaylee lay down on the bed nearest the door, staring at the wall. She'd have to talk to Professor McGonagall in the morning, tell her that the hat hadn't worked right. What if other first years had been mishoused?

The next morning, the thin windows in the dormitory greeted Kaylee as she slowly opened her eyes. She groaned when she saw the row of yellow beds declaring that she hadn't woken up from a dream on June 30th, but she heard a shift from across the room.

"Oh! Finally up!" Came a cheerful voice. Kaylee sat up sharply, looking at the girl who'd spoke. She was short and round, had frizzy blonde hair, freckles and honey-coloured eyes. She was already wearing her uniform. Kaylee looked around and realised all the other beds had emptied. She must have woken late. Kaylee got up and quickly got dressed, before looking at the girl.

"Y-you woke late too?" She asked the girl, who smiled and wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Not exactly. I waited up for you." She answered. Kaylee frowned in confusion.

"Why?"

"Well… Hufflepuffs don't get much respect from the other houses… And we're a loyal bunch… So, I thought… Well, we badgers should stick together." The girl explained. She held her hand out to Kaylee, palm up.

"I'm Laura Montgomery." She smiled. Kaylee looked at the hand for a moment, before taking it.

"Kaylee Drake." She replied. Laura started tugging on her hand, pulling towards the door.

"Come on, or there'll be no margarine left!" Laura stated. Kaylee picked up her pace and soon the two girls were running towards the great hall, where they were greeted by Anna, Daniel and the other Hufflepuffs. Kaylee looked up at head table, before turning back to her housemates as Anna reached forward to ruffle her hair.

She could always tell Professor Mcgonagall tomorrow.


End file.
